complications after neutering
Well, it seems to be just my luck. Oskar was neutered exactly a month ago, and had not problems whatsoever. he didn't even lick at the incisions.
Then yesterday, we noticed it looked like he hadn't been neutered...the scrotum was filled up again. I took him in this morning, and yes, he had bleeding into the scrotum, and they aspirated quite a bit of bloody fluid out of it. The vet said it was very unusual to see it this late after the neutering, but...He also felt that he didn't need to know more than aspirate it at that time, because the blood was dark, so didn't look like very fresh--he said he'd be more concerned if the blood was brighter, thus showing that it was still bleeding.
We were hoping it wouldn't come back. I took him in at 9 am. Now, at 6:30, it's already half again as full. he doesn't seem to be in any pain. He had a slight fever at the vet, but that's it. They said if it refills we might have to put a drain in which I am less than excited about given that it will need to be flushed, and I'm supposed to be leaving for Germany in a week.
Just my luck, which always seems to bad with canine health.
Anyway, I wondered if anyone else had run into this and had any tips for me, or things I should be concerned about/ask the vet about.
Guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning.
Then yesterday, we noticed it looked like he hadn't been neutered...the scrotum was filled up again. I took him in this morning, and yes, he had bleeding into the scrotum, and they aspirated quite a bit of bloody fluid out of it. The vet said it was very unusual to see it this late after the neutering, but...He also felt that he didn't need to know more than aspirate it at that time, because the blood was dark, so didn't look like very fresh--he said he'd be more concerned if the blood was brighter, thus showing that it was still bleeding.
We were hoping it wouldn't come back. I took him in at 9 am. Now, at 6:30, it's already half again as full. he doesn't seem to be in any pain. He had a slight fever at the vet, but that's it. They said if it refills we might have to put a drain in which I am less than excited about given that it will need to be flushed, and I'm supposed to be leaving for Germany in a week.
Just my luck, which always seems to bad with canine health.
Anyway, I wondered if anyone else had run into this and had any tips for me, or things I should be concerned about/ask the vet about.
Guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning.
Comments
I'm sorry he's not doing well. I know how stressful it is.
Get well Oskar!! Were all sending you healing vibes!!
Hope Oskar will get better.
I am looking at canine vasectomy for mine. The hardest part is finding a vet who isn't brainwashed by the whole "castrated dogs are better-behaved dogs" mantra.
Ugh.
And why is he bleeding in the first place? I know that there could have been problems with poorly cauterized blood vessels or something, but that would have showed up when he first had the surgery, I would think, not a month later. Same with if he had a clotting disorder--I would think they would have noticed it during the surgery.
Well, at least he isn't bothered by it. He doesn't seem to notice it at all, and he's certainly normal in terms of wanting to play (which I'm not letting him do) and his appetite, etc.
Could you board at a vet's office? It's not ideal for him, but he'd be safe and if something happened they could deal with it. I know it's probably expensive though.
I took Oskar back this morning and they're putting a drain in. I don't know much more until after the vet aspirates it again and sees what he's looking at....he was wondering how much blood was in there vs. other kinds of fluid. I asked what could cause it, and he mentioned the usual things, noting that not every single blood vessel gets cauterized, and that too much activity could cause this, but again, that he's never seen it start so far from the actual neutering.
I asked him he saw any unusual bleeding with the surgery, as Akitas are susceptible to Von Willebrand's disease, a clotting disorder, and he said he did not. I did remind him that Oskar's broken toe nail bled quite a bit and kept reopening weeks after the fact, and that gave him pause. From my very hurried and cursory reading of Von Willebrand's, it seems that one of the odd things about it is that dogs don't show a problem with clotting every time. We probably should have tested for it before the surgery, but I didn't ask for the pre-op blood work. Of course, now I wish I'd done that too, though that may not be the problem (it is something I will have him tested for though).
I don't know what we'll do in terms of the trip. Need to find out what's going on, first. I could have boarded him with the vet, but they are out of town too. I know a dog breeder who has worked with injured animals who may be able to help, so I'll talk to her too. It will be expensive if I have to have her come up here, but it is at least an option.
Will you be getting the blood test done now to test for Von Willebrand's?
Now, I am going to hijack your thread for a minute...
Can someone explain why canine vasectomies would be look down upon versus neutering? Would it be a more or a less invasive surgery? Are there cases where the vasectomies have spontaneously reversed?
I am quite curious, because I have never had a male dog before (permanently, that is, I have had male fosters). And if I were to obtain a male dog, I would be more interested in the vasectomy versus the full neuter for the reasons mentioned in previous threads.
http://forums.petdocsoncall.com/entry.php?69-Vasectomies-for-Dogs
@shibamistress PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep us posted on how today goes. As far as your question about the ligament. Since the rise of neuters in the US, there has also been a rise in cruciate ligament tears. We are also the leading nation in neutering and tears. A group of orthopedic surgeons/vets did a study to see if there was a positive correlation between the two, and what they found was that neutered males had much weaker ligaments than unneutered males with a higher rate of injury.
@shibamistress - I know how tough it can be to go out of town when you have a dog that needs some special attention. I've gotten practiced at it, but it doesn't get any easier. I always board my dogs at the vet due to Lucy's special needs. I leave them extremely detailed instructions and I call at least twice a day (when possible) to check in. I always ask to speak to the tech that is taking care of Lucy, not get a second hand message relayed from the front desk staff. I know the thought that your vet will be travelling is unsettling, but boarding Osakar at the vet's office is more about him being watched by trained vet tech's than having quick access to a veterinary doctor. Even if the vet isn't in the office, the vet techs will know if/when Oskar needs attention and be able to get it for him.
Also, if you're traveling internationally, there are a number of free options for making phone calls. I use google talk (that's integrated into gmail) and can get both incoming calls and make outgoing calls. The incoming calls are routed through my google voice number. I use it extensively when travelling internationally, and it doesn't cost me a penny (outside the cost of internet access which I'd be paying for anyway).
I had also seen a study that talked about decrease in hormones possibly effecting ligaments. I don't remember more about that either, but I believe what I saw was just referring to another study and didn't quote the original or talk about methodology.
Update: I just got the call from the vet. They feel like we've got a good chance of getting this taken care of relatively quickly. They took out 15-20 ccs of bloody fluid, but when she was putting in the drain, she did see that up near the body, most of the scrotum was thickened with scar tissues, as we want, so wer'e talking about a small pocket now. She put two drains in and a compression bandage over it, and feels pretty confident we can get this drained and gone by Monday. We'll need to keep him still of course, so he'll be crated for the weekend.
She said she's puzzled as to why it happened, but it seems to be similar to what happens to dogs who have too much exercise right after surgery. He was kept still for two weeks, but has been pretty active in the last two weeks, when we thought it was ok, but obviously, in his case, it just wasn't.
She said she saw no sign of excessive bleeding, but we're going to test for VonWillebrand's anyway, just to be safe. I talked about what I'd read, and she said she had minimal experience with it in vet school, which was almost 30 years ago, and has not had a case of it since, so knows little about it. It will be something for both of us to be educated about I guess. I'm hoping it will be, for me, one of those things I'll learn a bit about but never need to use!
And we're hoping to take the drains out on Monday.
One of the complications of my vet is that they are out of town about a week out of the month, but since it is a husband/wife team, they close up the practice when they are gone, so leaving him there is not even an option. I'd have to find another vet, like VCA who does medical boarding. I hate them, but if I have to I have to. I'm hoping I can avoid it though.
@Dave, thanks for the google talk tip, too. I'll check into that. It was another worry--that I'd be out of communication range.
Anyway, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about this, but poor Oskar! They said he was very much a gentleman. They only used a sedative and novocain, and said he was very cooperative, if scared. And now he has drains in his scrotum and a big elizabethan collar, and they took him out to pee, and he just didn't know what to be more upset about--the cone or the stuff in his junk. Poor boy!
I can say that I had drain tubes in my face in April. They were odd, but didn't hurt. Ofcourse they weren't in my groin, but they still didn't hurt.
@dlroberts Yeah!!! I may actually have you pull up a couple of studies. There's also another one on 14 dogs who were diagnosed with CL tears that went into surgery, and I think only 4 actually had tears. I have to go back and find the studies. I've been overloading myself with information.
Tara: Just email me the titles and journals of the articles you need, I'd be happy to get them for you. :-) (you've got my email address right?)
In your face though! Yikes! That sounds awful! My husband just told me a horror story about having one is knee that grew over and was very painful when the pulled it, but otherwise, didn't bother him while it was in.
Well, I got Oskar home earlier this afternoon. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the drain, which is not big, and I watched them flush it pretty easily at the vets (he didn't appear to notice it was happening). It will be a struggle for me, though, because he doesn't sit still well (or lay down and be still) , so this will be a bit difficult, and I'm supposed to do it twice a day.
Poor boy, though, between the giant cone and the bandage on his scrotum, he just doesnt know what to do, and he wouldn't pee outside. Then a friend came over, and he started with a little excitement pee then just peed a ton in his crate. I don't think he'd peed all day. And he doesn't like being in the crate all day, but he really needs to be still.
I also got quite a bit of info on VonWillebrand's. My vet looked some stuff up since we last talked, and agreed that it was certainly something we should test for, given that they read what I'd come across, which is that it is tricky, and he may not show excessive bleeding one time (say in surgery) and yet still have it and show clotting problems another time. We're going to get the test done--we all agreed that it was best to know, one way or the other.
In the meantime, I hope I can manage to flush the drains. My husband's leaving on Saturday, so it will be tough just doing it with one person, but the vet said I can bring him in, and they'll even come in on Sunday, if necessary, to do it, if I can't do it by myself.
What a GOOD BOY!
I'm not sure if this photo will work, since it's a FB photo, but I'll try:
Poor Oskar! He hates it, but has resigned himself to the great indignities.
(link here if pic doesn't show up: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150256915113195&set=a.10150230310293195.322199.545233194&type=1&theater
The vet would like to leave the drain in until mid week, but I'm leaving on Weds, so we'll likely take the drain out on Tues. We're figuring out back up plans in case anything goes wrong, and their vet tech lives near me and may come in and take a look while' I'm gone (this is why I love this vet--they come in on Sunday. The vet tech will do a housecall in extraordinary situations).
We still don't know why it happened of course. When I get back, we're going to do the test for Von Willebrand's just in case--it would be best to know.
Your vet sounds awesome!! Maybe Koda and I should move. ;-)
Poor Oskar! But I'm so thankful he's on the mend. And he's so good at the vet even though he's terrified. The worst struggles are getting him in the door and getting him on the table.